Planning some fun for 2018

Starting with a new purchase:

Apparently we really are tiny home people. 

A nice interior update to the 80s vintage of the trailer.  Just needs some fresh paint and a few minor things and this baby is ready for adventure.

Look! 4 bunks, each with its own window! This was probably what sold me on this particular trailer--each kid gets his or her own bed, which will probably be a blessing for the long adventure we are currently dreaming up.

Yes, that is extra sleeping space up above the dinette. This trailer can sleep 8 people! We will mostly use that for extra storage while on the road, but this means we could also take a set of grandparents or a couple of friends along for bit of fun. 

These are all the seller's original photos--but I will update with my own photos after we make a few improvements!  

So that's it for now--just wanted to share a bit of excitement as it unfolds. : )

Baptism Sunday

Sunny first expressed interest in being baptized this summer, and so when our church announced they were having a Baptism Sunday (happens several times a year), she was eager.  She made a heart commitment to Jesus a couple years back, when she was at the summer houseboat camp with her church youth group, but I never urged her to make it public--I feel strongly that kids should not be coached on taking such faith steps. It should come from them, not from the parents. Then a few weeks back Merry told me she wanted to be baptized too.  Apparently she very recently made her own heart commitment, and wanted to join her sister, who was thrilled. (And that made me happy, that these sisters could share such a moment and neither wanted the spotlight for themselves, you know?)

As a side note--we have been going to the 9 am service as a family (the two older kids join DH and I in the worship gathering while the two younger go to Sunday School), and then taking the two older kids back for youth group/Sunday school in the evening.  I have always wanted my kids to grow up being in the church service. . . but without the support of my husband, and being sleep deprived for so many years with babies and young children. . . it just never happened. But one thing to come out of  the past couple of emotionally and spiritually hard years is a new determination to not let life keep sliding on by--to be much more intentional about how I live and the choices I make. So when our church announced a 10 week long series on Discipleship I knew this was the time--and it was so perfect because I had just started reading the words of Jesus with the kids in our morning Bible time. And lo and behold, I love going to the early service, and I never wish I could have slept in, and I love having Sunny and Merry in the service, and DH has been supportive, and that has been one of the best parts of this whole Fall. I really think the series was part of Merry's heart choice too. With church first thing in the morning and again in the early evening we don't have much time for other things--and that's working out perfectly fine too. There's just enough time for some relaxing without totally wasting the day, or just enough time for a family bike ride or something like that. And my dear Becky often very sweetly helps carpool the girls to their youth group so we have not had to schlep over to Santa Cruz every time. It's all been great.

So this morning was the baptism. Last week pastor Dan texted Doug to ask if he wanted to be in the tank baptizing the girls, and he said yes. The girls were happy about that too. And I thought it was thoughtful that last night Doug asked me if I wanted to be part of it too. I was content to be the photographer on the front row, sitting next to Happy and Smiley.

Mom and Rebecca have already seen these photos because I shared them on facebook for my MIL (who had really wanted to be there for the baptism, and had asked if they couldn't wait until the next time the church did them so she & FIL could be there. . . which was sweet,  but I was also glad the girls said no they wanted to do it now. Let's all be so confident in not allowing other people to dictate how we express our love for God! : ). But I made the photo album on facebook only for family members (starting to be more private about the photos I share there), so I'm sharing here because I wanted whoever of you are still coming by to get to see them too. : )
Sunny making her statement of faith, led by her daddy.

Before the baptism, after they had already all climbed into the tub. The guys both had terrible expressions so I cropped them out--but I liked the girls' peeking out past the strong shoulders of DH and Dan while Dan was making introductions. Let's imagine it's a spiritual metaphor. : )

Sunny making her statement of faith, led by her daddy. 

Merry's turn to declare her faith, led by her daddy. 

New creations, damp and modeling the little gold crosses I gave them as a celebratory present afterwards. 

Dan and my dear Becky's girls celebrating with them. 

As my two girls came dripping out of the tub, Miss C and Miss K came rushing over with their towels (they had been sitting on a pew to the side, awaiting the moment) and there was a general hubbub of teen girl activity while the church body applauded the two new additions to the fold. : )  It totally made me laugh--it was like a handmaiden procession out the side door, full of fuss and excitement, because apparently the two sodden sisters could not dry off and change on their own, so C and K and Happy went out with them.

My girls are turning into young ladies, and I'm looking forward to seeing the women they become. I am praying they are women who seek after God with all their hearts and all their minds and all their strength. : )

Halloween 2015

Never too late for photos, right?

We upgraded our computer to the latest Windows OS and then realized that our camera was no longer supported. So until the company comes out with a software patch, Doug has to get the camera to upload to his laptop, and then from there to our computer. Clearly not something I can just sit down and do at my convenience.

But their costumes this year were really fun, so I think still worth sharing. Hey, I made it before Thanksgiving!

The literary theme this year: Alice in Wonderland

Alice

The Queen of Hearts (teen ballet version)

The Caterpillar

The Mad Hatter

A flower and the White Rabbit

FIL was visiting and even came with a knight costume--so they pretended he was one of the royal guards

This was the first year we actually bought one or two items for their costumes, but most of it was still scrounged from our closets and our friends' dance costume collection. Our friend (the White Rabbit) also is a clever costumer--I have a feeling that's what she is going to do someday for a living. She made the Queen of Hearts crown last year, and the skirt this year. She also made The Mad Hatter's hat and bowtie. We purchased the goggles and the pendant the Mad Hatter is wearing--she was originally not thrilled with the idea of being this character until I suggested a female Steampunk version. Then she was excited, and I was so pleased with the end result--the clothing items she is wearing are mostly all mine, things I regularly wear! (you can't see her boots and tights, also mine--and she borrowed the shirt from her daddy). We cobble together pretty well around here!

There were some really pretty details to their costumes that the camera doesn't really show.  Like Alice's key necklace, and the "drink me" labeled bottle in her basket. Or the functioning gears on the Mad Hatter's pendant (it's like a pocket watch).

Or the nice makeup job our friends did on the Mad Hatter.  The Caterpillar had character-flavored face paint too. 

Or the sweet heart hairdo on the Queen of Hearts. 

The dramatic night scene

HI!

It has clearly been waaaaaayyyyy too long since I've blogged. I don't even remember how to do it anymore!  I know why I slowed down the blogging last year (except for the MIL processing), and why I pretty much stopped this year:
* too much to say--just don't even know where to begin, and it is overwhelming to even think about
* the stuff I would want to say I don't feel like saying, and don't know if I should be saying.
* being a tad anti-social and hiding because of everything swimming around in my head.
* my creative writing urges are being spent on developing my LitWits "Master Classes"
* big struggle with brain fog this past year--so when I have the spare moments of time I usually want to rest my brain, not be creative. It's been a big Netflix year.  Sigh.
* feeling like I have too many things needing my attention pretty much every moment of every day. So my blog, even though a good thing, has become a thing it's ok to let go, without feeling guilty.
* 'cause at the end of the day--one less thing is really, really good.

But here are the reasons I want to blog right at this moment:
* A while ago I saw a blog on my sidebar that had been an adoption blog suddenly show up with a whole different face and people and purpose--and I realized that oh, right Blogger will take unused blogs and either delete them or allow other people to take them over (sometimes if they were blogs with big followings that appear to be abandoned Blogger will sell them!) and I don't even think they give you advance notice. I would be so upset if this blog, or Minnie Zephie's, were abruptly taken away from me.  So I'm going to think about long-term saving of the info (save it to my computer, print it out into books--different people do it different ways and I'll have to think what makes the most sense) but until then I'd better at least be sure they do not appear abandoned!
* I have fallen out of touch with pretty much everyone, even my family, pretty much because of all the things mentioned above. So this is one way to step back out into the social world a little. : )
* I would like to make a concerted effort to celebrate the good. This might be a safe place to do it.
* I am also doing so much processing in my life, and maybe there will be some things that are safe/a good idea to process here. I have been processing more mentally--but I forget things so easily--way too easily!--and that is so discouraging, when it feels like I am learning so much and God shows me things and then I forget them!!!!!  Sheesh!
(I have started writing in paper journals--one for different facets of my life. Trying to write down the good things, the encouraging things, the wise things. The things I need to remember but that are maybe too private for sharing here. But even then, I forget to write things down when they happen or when God shows them to me, and then they are lost forever. So blogging a little more might help me get better about recording in general.)
* I forget that blogging is fun! : )

So I'm not making any promises. I'm just going to post this, and hopefully post in Minnie Zephie, and we'll call it good, until next time whenever that is. : )  I don't want bloggin to be a stressful thing--I have enough stressful things in my life already! So thank you in advance for reading this, for caring, for understanding. : )

And I have to make all that reading worth something, so here are some pics!

Feb-Mar 2015 random happenings:

Happy and Smiley as a nurse and orderly. 

Saturday morning reading in bed. There's DH still attempting sleep at the back. ; )

A Barbie game in the bedroom during quiet time. 

Merry on her 12th birthday.

Happy getting one last portrait in the little apron that she inherited from my mother. She has loved and cherished it. . . 

. . . and has sometimes dressed her little brother in it.

For some reason I don't have many photos of Sunny from that period. It was probably a big buckle-down school period and she was most often doing required school. I don't want to talk about it. This post is supposed to be about the good stuff. ; ) So here's a pretty photo of her from last winter.

OK, so that's not much, but it is a start. I hope you all are doing well and are starting your holiday season with lots of love and no stress.

It being Wednesday, I'm Anti-Procrastinating This Post

; )

Good morning everyone!  This is a post that is looooooong overdue. I've been writing a post to wrap up Christmas--with photos!--but it just seems like my brain is harder to get into blog mode these days.

I still want to write that post-Christmas post, even if its Feb when I do!  I want to share some good--and God--things about our holidays, including the time in Chico.  My scripture when I opened my Bible this morning was from the Psalms, when David was lamenting feeling far removed from God, and so he decided to purposefully look back and reflect upon all that God had done for His people.  I want to be sure to write the God stuff--I want to be able to look back and see His goodness in my life. : )

So, I'll see if I can't finish that later today. After all, it is Wednesday, anti-procrastination day!

Actually, I'm making this Anti-Procrastination Week. I feel like this is just one of those times when the things needing attended to are (literally!) piling up around me. And yet, this is a week when I have a little bit of breather room and can get things done. So, I am!

The skinny:

Things are good.

School.
School has settled down A LOT, all to do with my fabulous ES Terry.  That does not mean things are running as smoothly as they should in the high school department, but at least it's not completely overwhelming like it was last semester. (Which was partly my fault, because I had not quite understood what we were getting into, and partly not my fault, because the school was changing rules even as the semester went on, and even my amazing ES would have to frequently talk to higher-ups to figure out what the heck was required. That's not the school's fault either--since it is a public charter, the State had suddenly decided to be all up in its business and so they were having to scramble to address changes the State was making, from what I understand. But still--one big headache.)

With the other kids, I'm finding myself toying more and more with the idea of unschooling. I would not ever completely unschool--at this point I fear it would be more like just giving up, and research seems to prove that unschooling really only works best when it is a family lifestyle that the kids engage with from the beginning of their "schooling."  But the idea of it--letting go of the need to control what the kids learn, trusting in their own God-given curiosity to inspire them to learn, not really using traditional textbooks or programs to "do school"--has been really helpful for me, after all the stresses of last semester.  When I step back and look at everything they do and learn on a "bare bones school" day, it is so good to see all the learning and brain-growth that happened. They really are taking in what we learn and do, and helping grow their brains is the important thing--not the specific tool/method used to do it.

redwood logging

they built a model of the transcontinental railroad. (that "snow" represents the Sierra Nevadas.)  It was their idea entirely--when learning and play naturally meld together 

(if you look carefully you can see DH and three of our kids)

the kids all made homemade bows & arrows. and spears. 

 and slingshots.

what we imagine public school feels like. 

(just kidding! ; )

math

history

um. . . art? woodshop?

this photo sums it all up perfectly

In other words, its all good.

(exhale)

(And look at that!  I just did a School in Review for the Fall!  I always mean to do those and never remember or get around to it.  Score one for Anti-Procrastination Day!

Also, those photos represent just some of the fun and learning-valuable things we did this past Fall. There are more things recorded in photos still on my phone, or DH's phone, or things we didn't document at all. It is so good to look at these and remember--my kids are doing, and trying, and inventing and imagining, and when they do these things, they learn.


Family.
After Christmas, I told DH that I thought it would be great if I did not have to see his parents for about 6 months. I was just so tired of all the negative and realized I was really angry at my MIL for all she put us through (purposefully or not) this past holiday season.  But of course God. . . instead, they called the very next day and said they wanted to come see us that next weekend. : )  And guess what--it was a perfectly fine visit. Probably the nicest visit we have had in years.  Of course it was still totally stressful for me & DH, because we spend every moment waiting for the proverbial shoe to fall.  But overall it was a very good visit, which of course is good.  We know it won't last, but we should enjoy the good when we get it.

Thanksgiving 2014

Our little family unit is doing great. Not nearly as much teen drama from Sunny now that I'm not her homeschool boss.  I've been noticing how well-bonded our kids are to each other, and that is just such a blessing. I think about the kids who spend most of their lives apart from their siblings, and who then think their siblings are "annoying." My kids understand the reality that everyone is annoying sometimes, but siblings are special. Sharing beds helps too. They rotate who sleeps in what two bunks, always paired up, and that has really helped bond them closely as well. I can't imagine those families in which the adult kids don't really like each other, or even know each other.  Or in which the kids are estranged (or even just emotionally distant from) their parents. We're not doing everything perfectly--FAR from it. And I know something tragic could still happen in our lives to change all this. But right now, I look at my kids cuddling and whispering in bed, or piling on top of their daddy, or saying they miss me when I've been away for a day, and I have Peace about my kids.

The sign reads "The House of Love. Loving Evan."

Health.
We have been really quite healthy so far this winter--only one person had a bad cold so far (Sunny). But, it's January and the acacia trees are in full bloom, so my allergies are too.  Actually, even they have not been too bad--until last night. I don't know if I am getting a cold on top of the allergies or what, but I'm way worse today today than any day so far, and I had a terrible night of sleep. But still--no flu, nothing serious. I'm thankful.

And I'm still breathing with two nostrils, which means I'm good. : : )

OK, let's see. School, family, health.


House.
Um, yeah. That's not all good. But I'm focusing on the good today, so we'll talk about that later.

(Don't worry--the house is still standing, we are still cozy and warm and dry, it just seems like problems are coming faster than we can deal with them. Some little, some big.)

But the good thing about the house being a frustrating, overwhelming dump is that I am in big-time GO mode with cleaning out junk. I mean, I'm letting go of so much stuff. Get it GONE. Of course that's also partly because after Christmas we have even MORE stuff to find room for/make storage bins for.  But also partly because, despite my best efforts and continual purging and organizing, the underside of the house looks like an episode of Hoarders.  I've been cleaning out cupboards and looking at things I have not used for years, and thinking at those objects, "You are dead to me."  And then out it goes.

Anti-procrastination feels GOOD.

So, anyone care to join me this week?  Feel free to share your successes in the comments! : )

That's it for the moment--but more to come!  Until then, have a great Wednesday, everyone!